A Synonym for the D.C. Democratic State Committee: Dysfunctional

Many have asked what the purpose of the D.C. Democratic State Committee is. In a city that is so overwhelmingly Democratic it has very little to do and they prove time and time again that even with little to do they can’t do it well.

They no longer appear to have an annual Kennedys-King dinner which may be a blessing as at one a few years ago there were so many mistakes in the program that it was embarrassing for them to hand it out. A number of years ago they printed a poster to support Democratic candidates in the District and misspelled the name of our delegate to Congress. In 2008 they got into trouble for how they raised and accounted for the money to cover their expenses at the convention.

Often considered their prime reason for existence in D.C. is handling the quadrennial selection of delegates to the Democratic National Convention. The District of Columbia in 2012 will get 39 delegates and 2 alternates to the convention but most of those slots are filled by DNC party officials or DC elected officials. This year there are only 13 delegates and one alternate who will be determined by a vote at a caucus on March 3rd. But if you try to get information on the caucus as late as Tuesday morning by going to the State Committee website you would think that they are doing everything possible to hide the event from the public.

I was told that they recently developed a new website. But Google the D.C. Democratic State Committee and it takes you to their old site which is still functioning. If you wade through all the information on that site you finally come across the fact that the March 3rd Caucus will be held at the D.C. Convention Center. WRONG!

Then call someone and find their new site and on the home page you find a listing of the approved candidates for delegate but still no location for the Caucus. The candidates are listed by the two Congressional Districts which D.C. is split into for the purpose of selecting delegates. Funny since we don’t even have one voting member in Congress.

Be that as it may, Wards 1, 2, 6, and 8 make up District #1 and Wards 3, 4, 5 and 7 make up District #2. But on the home page you find the list of candidates but don’t see which Wards make up which District. If you read through every document on the site you will eventually find that the caucus is actually being held at University of the District of Columbia (UDC) from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. But they don’t tell you in which building, or give the courtesy of giving directions to UDC. They don’t mention that after 11:00 am you can just stop by and vote and don’t have to stay for the whole caucus. Or that there is actually an opportunity for those that celebrate their Sabbath on Saturday or who may be out of town to vote on Thursday at a different site after calling to make an appointment.

Just wait to hear the moaning after it is all over about how surprised they are that so few Democrats turned out to vote. The time has come to either remake the DC Democratic State Committee into a functioning organization if people still believe it has a purpose, or have the Democratic National Committee just take it over.

Some of your comments are very valid. But please allow me a minute to address some of them.
1. Many members of the DCDSC have been out at Ward events and democratic affiliated organizations spreading the word about delegate selections and the process.
2. Funny how there are two congressional districts...did you just wake up from a 100 year old nap "Rip van Winkle" is been that way for many years nothing has changed so why are you complaining about the two congressional districts.
3. Since when does everyone have to bend over backwards to ensure that every person no matter what they have going on in their lives has a convenient time to vote. Get real! You cannot conform to everyone's schedule. Frankly it's unrealistic and plain stupid! YES Stupid! Either skip temple, church, your kids play or that long weekend away if you want to vote! It's outrageous that everyone needs to be satisfied with a date that works for every voter!

Furthermore, if you feel that the DCDSC could do a better job,(and I believe in the past few years they have made some progress,) then stop your bitching and get involved and offer up some solutions and dedicate some time to the organization otherwise your just bitching and there is enough of that going on in this town!

John CapozziFeb. 29, 2012 @ 9:13 am

Yes, the State Committee needs some help.
The leadership of the State Committee also cancelled the election of Democratic State Committee (DSC) members. The election of DSC members will not take place during the April 3rd Democratic primary, as it has been for decades. Facing the voters in April appeared to be too big of a threat to the group running the DSC. After taking heat on canceling the election in April, the new plan the DSC is considering asking that the election of DSC members be part of the general election in November. Trying to hold the election of Democratic Party officials during a general election is a joke.
This leaves the DSC to hold a caucus. This caucus would be the forum to elect a new group that can run the DSC in a way that can make DC Democrats proud to be a member of the Democratic Party in the District.
Stay tuned, if the March 3rd Caucus is any indication, you will need to look hard to find out about it.
As a good first step, come and vote this Saturday for the â€œ51st Stateâ€ slate at UDC, 10:00am â€“ 2:00pm and vote!

AnonymousFeb. 29, 2012 @ 3:28 pm

Something tells me you work for the dysfunctional DCDSC. Anonymous, I think you have missed the whole point. The issue at hand is not truly about how many congressional districts there are (especially considering that splitting the region into district's is mandated by the constitution and electoral college - not a DCDSC decision at all) or even about making sure that everyone has a convenient time to vote. The issue is the lack of transparency regarding the process and it's workings. It is a crime in this day and age - especially for an organization that should be working FOR it's constituents - to make it this hard to find information. If the DCDSC really feels that the blogger or others who share his opinion are merely bitching and should get involved, then my advice to you as a non-profit communications professional, is to make it EASY for folks to find you and get involved. There's no excuse for these types of 'dropped balls'. Especially when I can google DC GOP and get their site immediately, with the latest update on that site being last week. The DCDSC will never garner sufficient support to carry out it's agenda at this rate, because no one can find you (or your agenda). Those of us who can, think you're a joke.